EA Ranked Top Publisher in 2012, Says Metacritic

EA was the most critically acclaimed major games publisher in the world last year, according to stats compiled by Metacritic.

The score aggregation site has sifted through its database to rank all of last year’s big publishers (those that shipped 15 or more unique titles), to come up with some interesting results.

EA’s average metascore was 75.2, across 74 total products and 37 unique releases on PC, PlayStation and Microsoft platforms. Of those games, Mass Effect 3 on Xbox 360 performed strongest with a metascore of 93, while the 360 version of FIFA 13 scored 90.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted, SSX and Kingdoms of Amalur also performed well, with Medal of Honor: Warfighter scoring the lowest of all EA’s games with just 53 on Xbox 360.

Below EA is Microsoft Studios, last year’s winner, which released 42 unique titles with an average metascore of 73.0. The outfit’s most critically celebrated release was the PC version of Mark of the Ninja, coming in at 91. Its worst title, by this metric, was the XBLA release Bloodforge.

Sony came in at third, with 45 unique titles and a 72.3 average metascore. Of these, PSN effort Journey hit biggest, racking up a 92 metascore. Vita releases Sound Shapes and Gravity Rush also performed well. Start the Party! Save the World, meanwhile, let the side down with a piddling metascore of 50.

Interestingly, the PS3 scored higher on average than the Vita, with metascores of 72.8 and 72.1 respectively.